dendroica:

Lake 3of12 by sparth on Flickr.

rhamphotheca:

Conservation of the Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus)

The Javan, or lesser one-horned, rhino is on the brink of extinction. As few as 40 individuals are thought to survive in the wild in Ujung Kulon National Park, Indonesia, and there are none in captivity. The Javan rhino in Vietnam was confirmed extinct on October  25, 2011.

Human population pressures and poaching continue to threaten the few remaining Indonesian Javan rhinos. WWF is working to:
• protect the remaining Javan rhinos from poaching
• monitor the existing population
• establish a second population through translocation, which establishes different populations of a species in more than one area

With as few as 40 Javan rhinos left in the world, WWF needs your support to fund urgent rhino projects, including an ambition translocation plan.  

PLEASE DONATE NOW to the World Wildlife Fund

Reeds in a Pond by Hank Frentz

mothernaturenetwork:

At 4,841 years old, this ancient bristlecone pine is the oldest known non-clonal organism on Earth. Located in the White Mountains of California, in Inyo National Forest, Methuselah’s exact location is kept a close secret in order to protect it from the public. (An older specimen named Prometheus, which was more than 5,000 years old, was cut down by a U.S. Forest Service graduate student in 1964.) Today you can visit the grove where Methuselah hides, but you’ll have to guess at which tree it is. Could this one be it?
The world’s 10 oldest living trees

anticapitalist:

Human Carcinogen Found in Drinking Water Near Gas Drilling Ops

Big surprise, right?

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) detection of arsenic, a known human carcinogen, barium and other contaminants in the well water of homes near natural gas drilling operations in Dimock Township, Pa., should prompt a nationwide investigation of drilling-linked water pollution.

[…]

Arsenic, classified by the US government and World Health Organization as a known human carcinogen, an element sometimes found in “elevated concentrations” in groundwater because of drilling;

• Barium, a common constituent of drilling fluids; long-term ingestion at high levels can cause kidney damage
• Phthalates, a synthetic plastic chemical and probable human carcinogen, according to EPA
• Glycol compounds common in drilling fluids and associated with damage to kidneys, the nervous system, lungs, heart, testicular damage and anemia
• Manganese, an naturally occurring element that can damage the nervous system at high levels
• Phenol, found in some drilling fluids; at high levels can cause irregular heartbeat, liver damage and skin burns
• Sodium, compounds found in some drilling fluids, at high levels can cause high blood pressure

Federal officials said that although the investigation has not been completed, they have concluded, based on samplings to date, that a “chronic health risk exists” for the wells in question.

“These results also show that the families ultimately need a permanent source of healthy water, which the state has so far failed to deliver,” Horwitt said. “Cabot should bear the cost of providing this, not the taxpayers.”

For more information, click here.

Moral of the story? Fracking is stupid and dangerous.

(Source: quiet-nymph)

Blue Pond, Hokkaido by Kent Shiraishi

llbwwb:

West Thumb Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park (by ThorsHammer94539)

dendroica:

n70_w1150 by BioDivLibrary on Flickr.

Birds of the Pacific coast
New York,G. P. Putnam’s sons,1923.
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/32467

I saw one of these today — not either of the two upper birds but the lower one that I swear is a Townsend’s Warbler. It was my first Townsend’s Warbler in more than a year. I saw this post and then was sitting in my living room, I looked out the window and there it was hopping along the fence.

Townsend’s Warbler by Glenn Bartley

dendroica:

Walt Kochan

Bellingham, Washington, USA

Breaching orca, San Juan Islands, Washington, USA

(via Digital Photo Contest // 2011 Winners)

isaac-lonetree:

Coast Range Fog (by russell.tomlin)

A young White Tailed Eagle protects his (or her) bit of the food from all the other birds who would love to steal some of it.

Captured from the live action Jan. 20

http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/12041